Surgical instruments used to shave, cut, resect, abrade and/or remove tissue, bone and or other bodily materials are known. Once the tissue, bone and/or any other bodily materials are cut, it is necessary to remove them from the surgical site. This is typically accomplished through an inner lumen provided in the surgical instrument that is connected to a suction source. Existing surgical instrument may utilize a one-way suction line to aspirate tissue from the surgical site. It is often the case that the tissue forms a clog in the aspiration pathway (most often in the distal end of the surgical instrument). One way to remove the clog is for the person using the surgical instrument to remove the instrument from the surgical site and insert a stylet into the cutting window to force the clog through the cutting portion and into the inner lumen to be aspirated. However, this is often a time-consuming and tedious process, particularly over the course of a surgical procedure in which the surgeon may have to remove multiple clogs. Furthermore, removing and reinserting the surgical instrument is traumatic to the surgical site.
Cleaning functions such as irrigation, suction, or both may also be provided to or incorporated with a surgical instrument during a procedure in order to maintain the surgical instrument clean, which typically requires connecting various individual cables, tubes, lines, ports, etc. to the instrument. The various individual cables, tubes, lines, ports, etc. connected to the surgical instrument may however interfere with a doctor or surgeon performing the medical procedure, which may undesirably add additional time and/or complications to the procedure. Also, by connecting various individual cables, tubes, lines, ports, etc. to the surgical instrument, selective application of irrigation fluid, suction, or both may be difficult to control.
Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned problems associated with clearing clogs from a surgical instrument, it is desirable to develop ways of clearing clogs quickly and efficiently during a surgical procedure.